Carriage House on Cherry Hill in Cherrydale
A decades-old eatery in Cherrydale recently closed, but new owners have signaled their intention to open a new restaurant at the site
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, I quarantined with my now fiancee in Arlington’s Cherrydale neighborhood, becoming intimately familiar with its landmarks—the beautiful Cherrydale Library, Old Dominion Cleaners, and Essy’s Carriage House Restaurant. Unfortunately, I never dined at Essy’s before it closed, but I was always comforted whenever I passed by and saw its neon sign blazing.
Nick the Greek
The original address of Essy’s Carriage House was 4030 Lee Highway, which may be confusing to a present-day Arlingtonian for several reasons. First, Essy’s was not located on the traditional Lee Highway, also known as Route 29, but on a stretch of road running between North Quincy Street and Old Dominion Drive that was also called Lee Highway (and officially Route 309). Second, the portion of Lee Highway (Route 29) that runs through Arlington is now known as Langston Boulevard, and the “mini” Lee Highway, if you will, is now known as Cherry Hill Road.1
In May 1956, brothers Nick and Jim Koumas purchased Lots 8 and 9 in Cherrydale from Nell and Lawrence D. Byers for $12,000.2 Nicholas T. Koumas was born in 1914 to parents Mariora Koumarianos and Theofpastos Koumarianos of Andros, Greece. In 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, receiving his discharge three years later.
In 1959, the Northern Virginia Sun reported that the Arlington County Board had denied an application by Nick and his wife, Mary Lou Koumas (née Tatakis), for a rezoning of residential land on 21st Street N for the purpose of building a restaurant. The reason for the Koumas’ interest in the property was the looming threat of the county’s extension of North Quincy, which necessitated tearing down their current restaurant and finding a replacement. As the couple told the Sun, they had been in business in Cherrydale for 12 years and wanted to remain. Fortunately, the pair came to an agreement wherein they gave the county a 35-foot strip of property that had been intended for parking.
According to the property card for 4030 Lee, the property was known as Belmont Restaurant, which Nick and Jim operated.3 An advertisement for the restaurant billed it as “[t]he charcoal restaurant” serving steak and shishkebab. In September 1965, Yellow Cab Co. driver Jake Kelly Newsome, a white man, shot black dishwasher Robert Lee Lansdown in the kitchen of Belmont Restaurant in a racially-motivated attack, blinding him. Newsome claimed he had not meant to fire the gun and only wanted to “scare” Lansdown after hearing him use “foul language” around white customers and staff.4
At some point in the mid-1970s, the restaurant passed into the hands of Nicholas D. and Janna Georges (née Esber), who changed the name to Uncle Nick’s Family Restaurant (the Koumas family maintained ownership of 4030 Lee). The new establishment was featured in a 1978 Washington Post article, and columnist Alice Digilio noted that Uncle Nick’s had “a cozy aura - just the kind of restaurant you look for in an older, established neighborhood like Cherrydale in Arlington.” Digilio also remarked on the somewhat confusing nature of Arlington streets:
We discovered our destination via a large sign on Lee, which was fortunate, since Uncle Nick's entrance is on Quincy Street.
Being on a corner, the restaurant is a wedge-shaped affair, because as all northern Virginians know, no two streets in Arlington intersect at right angles.
In Digilio’s article, we also see the first mention of Essy Saedi associated with 4030 Lee. According to her, Uncle Nick and Janna ran the restaurant with Saedi.
While Saedi was already helping run things at 4030 Lee as early as 1978, it is unclear when the site became the Carriage House.5 However, there are some clues. For example, according to the Virginia State Corporation Commission, in January 1982, Saedi incorporated Essy Saedi, Inc., with a principal office address of 4030 Lee. Additionally, in August 1983, Arlington County awarded Saedi a permit to add an awning to 4030 Lee at a cost of $550.6 The earliest explicit mention is in the 1989 edition of the Washington-Lee (now Washington-Liberty) yearbook, where there is an advertisement for the Carriage House Family Restaurant, “[t]he [f]riendly [p]lace.”
The American Dream
Esmail “Essy” Saedi was born in 1946 in Iran to parents Ali Saedi and Fakri Inankah. In 1962, he immigrated to the United States, settling in Arlington. According to an archived copy of the Carriage House website, Saedi studied the culinary arts under Belgian-born, French-trained chef Joseph Storm.
Saedi initially married one Donna Jean Gormley (née Goss) in September 1975, but it was not to last. Saedi later married Janet C. Susskind, who co-ran Carriage House with him, and with whom he had two daughters, Lorena and Tonya.
Saedi established a reputation for himself as “the most colorful character in Arlington” and was known to have an “inappropriate sense of humor”. However, as noted in Arlington Magazine, he and his wife were on a first-name basis with three-quarters of their patrons and knew everyone’s drink order.
In 2013 and 2014, The Washington Post and Arlington Magazine, respectively, featured Essy’s Carriage House in articles celebrating eateries that had “stood the test of time.”7 The Post noted that the Carriage House was rapidly approaching middle age, while Arlington Magazine remarked that the older clientele was making room for a newer generation to discover the restaurant.
In February 2023, Essy and Janet announced their plans to retire and permanently shutter Carriage House. Essy was battling heart disease and diabetes, and thus, he and Janet told Charlie Clark, they were very much looking forward to a break. In his article, Clark noted the restaurant had seen its fair share of high-end clientele, including judges, like Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, and four-star generals, like Russell Dougherty, one-time head of Strategic Air Command. According to a thesis by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Swiech:
[Dougherty] became a regular at Essy’s Carriage House, a local restaurant in Arlington, Virginia near the [Air Force Association] headquarters, and alternated meals there. On one visit, he would have the chop sirloin steak. On the next visit, he would have the prime rib and cuts
Also in February 2023, the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate passed a joint resolution honoring Saedi on the occasion of his retirement. Per the resolution:
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Essy Saedi on the occasion of his retirement; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Essy Saedi as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for his contributions to the residents of Arlington County and the region.
On November 23, 2023, Saedi passed away from cardiorenal syndrome. His obituary notes he was the self-proclaimed “luckiest Persian alive.”
The Stefanous and the Future of 4030 Cherry Hill
In 2009, Nick Koumas passed away at the age of 95 and his property passed to his daughter, Irene Stefanou. Irene is a longtime resident of Arlington and attended high school at Washington-Lee.
In November 1975, Irene and Peter Stefanou of 3000 Spout Run Parkway obtained a marriage license from Arlington County.
Peter Stefanou is the son of Euthimios K. and Eleni Stefanou. Euthimios, a native of Albania, came to the United States in 1936 and fought with the U.S. Army during World War II. Following his discharge, he owned and operated several restaurants in the D.C. area, including the Keyhole Cafe, Village Carryout, the Louis Jr. restaurant, and Jimmy’s Pizza Stop.8
Peter is an accountant by trade and co-founded the firm of Frank, Stefanou & Co.9 In June 1986, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges brought by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Rudolph W. Giuliani.10 According to a Washington Post article:
Stefanou admitted arranging fictitious commodity trades between Dominion Securities Group of McLean, in which he was a general partner, and London & Atlantic Market Brokers Ltd., a commodity brokerage house. Stefanou sold investments in the London firm's commodity contracts as tax shelters, receiving a fee equal to a percentage of the tax loss generated by the investments.
Today, the Stefanous own property in McLean and in Arlington’s Woodland Acres neighborhood. In 2022, the couple purchased 5001 34th St N for a cool $2.1 million. Peter is a member of the team at RBSM, LLP, a New York-based accounting firm.
In 2023, Charlie Clark reported that the landlords for Essy’s were hoping to sell the restaurant and rear parking lot to a developer that would build apartments on the site. And for a minute, it seemed that that was exactly what was going to happen. In May 2023, 4030 Cherry Hill was purchased by 724 N Wakefield St Investment LLC, a company with a principal office address of 4614 36th St N. This property is owned by Brian Normile, CEO of Arlington-based real estate development company BCN Homes, and his wife and BCN co-founder, Christine.
In February 2025, however, the Arlington Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) approved a variance allowing 724 N Wakefield St Investment LLC to “to accommodate a new kitchen and serving layout so that the owner can reopen the building as a restaurant in Cherrydale.” According to a letter from the Cherrydale Citizens Association to the BZA, the Association is “very excited for a restaurant to return to this location” (and so is this author!).
Post Script
Charlie Clark noted that, “contrary to rumor”, Essy’s Carriage House has no connection to Billy Martin’s Carriage House (today Martin’s Tavern) in Georgetown. However, they do appear to share identical matchbook cover designs. Just an interesting observation.
4030 Lee is located on Lots 8 and 9 of Cherrydale.
It is unclear exactly when Belmont opened, or where the Koumas family ran their restaurant prior to purchasing Lots 8 and 9. According to the property card for 4030 Cherry Hill, it was only built in 1960. However, as the 1959 article discussing the Board’s denial of the Koumas’ application notes, they had been in business in Cherrydale for 12 years, placing their start just after Nick was discharged from the Army.
A jury convicted Newsome on the charge of malicious wounding with intent to kill, maim, or permanently disfigure or disable. He was given a 12-year sentence. See “Newsome Convicted for Assault.”
An ARLnow article indicates Essy’s Carriage House opened in 1976, but as late as October of that year, newspapers were still advertising for Uncle Nick’s Family Restaurant. Additionally, as noted above, The Washington Post featured Uncle Nick’s in a 1978 article.
While neither the incorporation of Essy Saedi, Inc., nor the permit for an awning definitively say whether 4030 Lee had become Carriage House, they do point to Saedi taking a more central role in restaurant operations.
See “Euthimios K. Stefanou”.
From 1980-4, Frank, Stefanou and Co. did bookkeeping for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. See “Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Records”.
In 1987, Stefanou was also sued by North River Insurance Company, Inc. The suit stemmed from matters relating to the above conspiracy. According to a court document, North River sought “rescission of three professional liability insurance policies” and “alleged that Stefanou and a client, Edward Markowitz, had conspired to create more than $500,000,000.00 in fraudulent tax deductions for investors and thus had misrepresented that they did not know of existing circumstances that might give rise to claims.”
Hi Ryan. This is a fun read. I wonder if you'd be interested in writing a short piece about Essy's for the summer issue of the Cherrydale newsletter? Email me if so?
Thanks for this. I live a block away and am eager for a new restaurant.